House panel backs exemption for nursing home beds in The Villages

Thursday

Mar 28, 2013 at 5:20 PM

The subcommittee approved a controversial proposal that would create an exemption to a longstanding limit on new nursing homes.

The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — With a massive Central Florida retirement community pushing for the change, a House panel Thursday approved a controversial proposal that would create an exemption to a long-standing limit on new nursing homes.The issue centers on The Villages, a fast-growing community in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties that wants to add nursing-home care in the development. But it has faced an obstacle from a more than decade-old moratorium on state approval of new nursing-home beds.The House Health Innovation Subcommittee voted 7-5 to approve a bill (HB 1159) that would create an exemption for The Villages and potentially a handful of other retirement communities in the state. Sponsor Marlene O'Toole, R-Lady Lake, said the population of The Villages has "exploded" and that it needs to add nursing-home care."The need is now for us," said O'Toole, who represents the area.But the proposal is opposed by the Florida Health Care Association and other parts of the nursing-home industry. Steve Bogomilsky, whose company, Southern SNF Management, operates 18 nursing homes in Florida and recently built a 120-bed facility near The Villages, said residents already have access to care in the area."Show me the data that shows that they (existing nursing homes) are running full, that there are no beds available," Bogomilsky told the subcommittee.The Legislature approved the moratorium in 2001 amid broad efforts to revamp the nursing-home industry. The moratorium affects the addition of nursing-home beds and doesn't necessarily prevent the construction of new nursing homes. As an example, a nursing home company could move beds from an already-existing facility to a new facility.The moratorium was designed, at least in part, to help spur a move to provide services to seniors in their homes and communities, rather than in costlier nursing facilities. The issue has financial ramifications for the state, because the Medicaid program pays for nursing-home care for tens of thousands of seniors.The bill (HB 1159) does not mention The Villages by name, but it includes a series of criteria to qualify for the exemption. Requests would have to come from what are known as deed-restricted retirement communities in counties that meet several population standards, such as having at least 25 percent of their populations age 65 or older.O'Toole presented information indicating five counties — Sumter, Marion, Indian River, Collier and Hernando counties — might meet the qualifications. Within those counties, she said, retirement developments such as the On Top of the World Communities in Marion County could meet the criteria.If the bill is approved, each qualifying retirement community would be able to add up to 240 nursing-home beds. Rheb Harbison, a lobbyist for The Villages, said the retirement community thinks it needs two 120-bed nursing homes.Harbison, who said The Villages doesn't want to run or own nursing homes, took issue with Bogomilsky's arguments about a lack of need for more beds in the area. O'Toole said opposition to the bill is coming from nursing homes that don't want competition."It (the proposal) is about patients," Harbison said. "It's not about market share."But Deborah Franklin, a nursing-home operator who represented the Florida Health Care Association during the meeting, said the moratorium has helped control Medicaid costs and has carried out the state's goal of serving people in their homes and communities instead of nursing facilities.With its mass of senior voters, The Villages has become influential in Republican politics. It is a frequent stopping point for state and national GOP candidates, and developer H. Gary Morse is a major Republican contributor.HB 1159 is next slated to go the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee. The Senate version of the bill (SB 1482) has not been heard in committees.